Walmart Neighborhood Market store coming to Newport

By Jannette Pippin, Halifax Media Services

Published: Thursday, November 14, 2013 at 03:27 PM.

NEWPORT — Walmart is planning to expand its presence in the area with a smaller store model in Newport.

Newport Town Planner Bob Chambers said preliminary plans for a Walmart Neighborhood Market have been reviewed and he’s expecting final plans for the project at any time. Once the final plans have arrived and are complete, Chambers said he’ll be able to issue a building permit.

The plans call for the construction of the 42,000-square-foot store near the intersection of U.S. 70 and Roberts Road adjacent to the Wilco Hess gas station.

But Chambers is quick to note that the planned store model is not the same as the Supercenter down the road in Morehead City or a scaled-down Express stores.

“This is a Neighborhood Market with groceries and a pharmacy,” he said.

The project sits within a commercial highway zoning district, where such stores are a permitted use.

However, Chambers said, a special-use permit was required to allow for a second driveway entrance on U.S. 70. The town’s Board of Adjustment approved that permit last month.

NEWPORT — Walmart is planning to expand its presence in the area with a smaller store model in Newport.

Newport Town Planner Bob Chambers said preliminary plans for a Walmart Neighborhood Market have been reviewed and he’s expecting final plans for the project at any time. Once the final plans have arrived and are complete, Chambers said he’ll be able to issue a building permit.

The plans call for the construction of the 42,000-square-foot store near the intersection of U.S. 70 and Roberts Road adjacent to the Wilco Hess gas station.

But Chambers is quick to note that the planned store model is not the same as the Supercenter down the road in Morehead City or a scaled-down Express stores.

“This is a Neighborhood Market with groceries and a pharmacy,” he said.

The project sits within a commercial highway zoning district, where such stores are a permitted use.

However, Chambers said, a special-use permit was required to allow for a second driveway entrance on U.S. 70. The town’s Board of Adjustment approved that permit last month.

The Neighborhood Market store will share a driveway with the gas station and have a second entrance about 300 feet down the road.

Chambers said once the building permit is issued, construction on the project can begin.

Walmart has been aggressive in expanding in the area recently.

The company announced in October it is was building a similar 42,000-square-foot Neighborhood Market off Neuse Boulevard in New Bern. The new store will be about a quarter of the size the existing Walmart Supercenter in New Bern.

Bill Wertz, eastern region communications director for Walmart, said in October there are about 300 Walmart Neighborhood Markets nationwide. Construction on the New Bern store is expected to start next year and take eight or nine months to complete, he said.

Chris Capellini, assistant project manager with Bohler Engineering, the firm preparing the site plan for the New Bern Walmart Neighborhood Market, said the store would have a fuel station and drive-through for its pharmacy.

Walmart is also planning an Express Store in Oriental. It will be about 15,000 square feet and would not have as broad a selection as a Neighborhood Market. There are 20 Walmart Express stores in the state, more than anywhere else in the country, Wertz said.